By DEBORAH GERTZ HUSAR
Herald-Whig Staff Writer
FERRIS, Ill. -- An economic development opportunity for Hancock County might be blowing in the wind.
Elgin-based EcoEnergy wants to develop a 100-megawatt wind farm in the county and is working with landowners to push the project forward.
"You've got to look at wind characteristics of the site. Hancock County, because of its location and topography, is a pretty good area," said Nick Rigas, EcoEnergy's senior wind developer for Illinois.
The $200 million-plus project calls for building 35 to 70 turbines, with the exact number determined by the wind characteristics, in an area west of Ferris and south of Pontoosuc and Dallas City.
Hancock County Board Chairman David Walker welcomes the potential revenue from the wind farm project.
"It would be good for the county," Walker said. "Our revenue has been flatlined for years and years. This will be an opportunity to have more income to provide more services."
Work is under way on cooperation agreements with landowners. Under the agreements, landowners work with EcoEnergy to develop the project but are not bound to provide an easement.
"As the project develops, we'll go forward with a lease for easements," Rigas said.
Next steps include setting up a tower to collect data at the "hub" level, 80 meters or about 267 feet above ground; continuing work with landowners to lay out the turbine area; and beginning studies focused on birds, bats, archaeology, wetlands and historical structures in the area.
That work could take 18 months "to get the project prepared and ready to go into permitting," Rigas said. "There's a lot to do. Our goal is obviously to work with the community to make sure the community feels comfortable about the project and all their concerns are answered as well."
The farm likely could be built in 2010 or 2011, after EcoEnergy gets the required "interconnect" with utility companies to bring power onto the grid system.
Each megawatt of wind energy will power about 450 homes.
"We're talking about powering 45,000 homes, so taking power directly to homes is not feasible. This power will be put on the grid," Rigas said. "That will be our limiting factor. Our interconnect will not come up for the project until 2010."
More than 200 people will be involved in the construction process, using turbines manufactured nearby in West Branch, Iowa, and the project promises a "significant amount of tax income" to the county, Rigas said.
The turbines and access roads will occupy less than 1 percent of the land mass of the wind farm and won't interfere with existing farming operations.
"One thing farmers really like about these projects is they get additional income from the farm and continue their farming operations," Rigas said. "In our mind it strengthens the family farm. When they go through the cyclic ups and downs on grain prices, the additional income supports that farm."
EcoEnergy begins construction this month on its EcoGrove Wind Farm in Stephenson County, which will be a good showcase of wind energy possibilities.
"We'll bring landowners in Hancock County up during and after construction to talk to their fellow farmers, stand next to the turbines, see how they're laid out on the farms," Rigas said. "The new turbines are very quiet, very safe. The technology has progressed a lot over the last 10 to 20 years."
With the EcoRock farm, Hancock County can take advantage of the growing interest in wind power as a renewable energy source.
"It's a very economical energy source. It's very clean, environmentally friendly, and more importantly, it brings economic development to local rural communities like Hancock County," Rigas said.
"It's a very fast-growing industry here in the United States. Northern Illinois and parts of central Illinois do have pretty good wind potential. There's no reason why Illinois should not play a major role in wind development."
-- dhusar@whig.com/221-3379
